Seatbelt safety issue identified in some Volkswagen and Seat models
New Seat Arona SUV and latest Volkswagen Polo hatchback among the cars affected, as Volkswagen Group issues a recall for 75,000 cars...
The fault that can leave a rear passenger unbuckled during a high-speed manoeuvre was identified in May 2018 in the Seat Arona, Seat Ibiza and Volkswagen Polo – three cars that are closely related under the skin.
Finnish automotive magazine Tekniikan Maailma put the cars through a lane-change test while carrying five people and found that the resulting movement of the person in the middle rear seat was enough to release the seatbelt of the person to their left.
According to Tekniikan Maailma, this happened on numerous occasions in each identified model, plus it says it tested two Aronas in order to confirm that the issue wasn’t isolated to a particular test car.
Volkswagen initially advised owners of affected cars not use the middle rear seat while it investigated a permanent solution. This has now been put in place and safety recall work has begun to fit a spacer in the double buckle of the rear seat to prevent the belt from becoming unbuckled when under pressure.
Tekniikan Maailma believes that the unlatching is down to a combination of the middle buckle's position – it's mounted slightly higher than the one to its left – and the release buttons being overly sensitive.
The Volkswagen T-Roc features a similar layout but buckles made by a different company, and the belts in this worked perfectly when it was put through the same test.
Owners of affected cars should receive a recall notice asking them to book their car in with their local dealer for the fix to be carried out. If you think your car needs to be fixed, you can also check on Volkswagen's online recall checking service.
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